Bolt and spike pulling jack



1942- J. R. GRIFFITH 2,291,893

. BOLT AND SPIKE PULLINCT JACK Filed June 21, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet lJUH/V A EA /FF/ 7/1 Aug. 4, 1942- J. R. GRIFFITH 2,291,893

BOLT AND SPIKE PULLING JACK Filed June 21, 1940 2 SheetsSheet 2 VPatented Aug. 4, 1942 TES PATENT OFFlCE 7 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in bolt and spikepulling jacks.

It is a common practice to use bolts and spikes of considerable lengthin building bridges and other similar structures, and, in particular, inlaying railroad rails upon crossties and trestles. The bolts and spikesare utilized to hold two or more members together, such as a railroadrail and a crosstie, or two bridge or trestle timbers. When it isdesired to dismantle such structures, it is often found that slightshifting of the various members of the structure has caused the boltsand spikes to be wedged in position so that it is necessary to useconsiderable force to remove them. In addition, the bolts or spikes areoften in such a location as to not be readily accessible to the usualtype of bolt pulling jack.

It is, therefore, one object of this invention to provide an improvedbolt jack adapted to engage the head of a bolt or spike disposed in amember, and to exert an upward pull upon the bolt or spike to remove thesame from the member.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved bolt jackwhereby bolts and spikes may be pulled or removed from relativelyinaccessible points.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved bolt jackhaving means coacting with the jack so as to engage and exert an upwardpull upon bolts or spikes which would be inaccessible to the ordinarytype of bolt jack.

An important object of the invention is to provide an improved bolt jackhaving means coacting with the lifting foot of the jack rack forengaging and exerting an upward pull upon bolts or spikes disposed atvarious points below the base of said jack.

A construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafterdescribed, together with other features of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of thefollowing specification and by reference to the accompanying drawings,in which an example of the invention is shown, and wherein:

Figure l is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of a jackconstructed in accordance with the invention, showing the jack restingupon a timber so as to pull a bolt,

Figure 2 is a similar view showing an auxiliary puller bar positionedupon an ordinary jack so as to pull a belt disposed below the jack,

Figure 3 is an enlarged view, partly in section and partly in elevation,of a portion of the lifting foot and the puller bar, showing one methodof connecting the foot and the bar,

Figure 4 is an enlarged elevation of an elongated rack adapted to beused with the jack,

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 taken at right angles thereto,

Figure 6 is a view of the under side of the rack,

Figure 7 is a side elevation of the auxiliary puller bar, and,

Figure 8 is a view in elevation taken at right angles to Figure 7.

In the drawings, the numeral [0 designates a jack of the ratchet typehaving a frame H, a base H and an elongate toothed rack 12 disposedwithin the frame H. The rack I2 is adapted to be moved longitudinally ofthe frame H in a vertical plane, being raised and lowered within saidframe by means of a ratchet and detent mechanism (not shown) disposedwithin the frame. The ratchet mechanism is actuated by any suitable typeof an elevating lever (not shown) which is inserted in an elevatinglever socket [3 formed on the outer end of a lever l4.

The lever 14 is mounted in the frame H upon a pin l5 so as to be free toundergo upward and downward motion. In this manner, a lever may beinserted in the socket I3 and moved up and down so as to actuate thelever M, which in turn actuates the ratchet mechanism to raise and lowerthe rack I2.

A lifting head [6 is provided upon the extreme upper end of the rack l2,and a lifting foot I! is formed upon the extreme lower end of the rack.The foot I! is provided with a recess [8, rectangular in cross-sectionand extending horizontally from the forward end of the foot somedistance thereinto. A slot I9 is formed in the bottom of the recess I8.The recess l8 receives the head 20 of a bolt 2| disposed in a timber A,while the slot l9 receives the shank 22 of said bolt. The slot is not ofsufficient cross-section to accommodate the head 20 of the bolt 2|, sothat upward movement of the rack l2 and the foot I! will exert an upwardpull on the bolt to remove it from its position within the timber A. Asis shown in the drawings, the lower side of the foot I7 is curvedupwardly toward the forward end of the foot so as to allow the same tobe readily placed beneath the head 26 of the bolt 2|.

As will be noted in Figure 1, an opening 23 is formed in the base ll ofthe frame ll below the lifting foot H. The opening 23 is of sufficientsize as to receive the lifting foot and allow the same to be projectedbelow the base II. An auxiliary rack 24, having substantially the sameelements and contour as the rack I2, is adapted to replace the rack I2within the frame I I. The rack 24 is somewhat longer than the rack I2,and is designed to be used when the bolt to be pulled is not accessibleto the rack I2 and lifting foot IT. The rack 24 is provided with alifting foot 25 similar to the foot I I, and having a recess 26 and aslot 21 similar to the recess I8 and the slot I9. The additional lengthof the rack 24 allows the lifting foot 25 to be projected through theopening 23 below the jack so as to engage and pull bolts which aredisposed in recesses or similar locations and cannot be reached by therack I2.

An auxiliary extension or puller bar 28 is provided for extracting boltswhich lie in very inaccessible locations. The bar is formed with a pairof elongate side members 29, joined by a pair of relatively shortcross-members 30 at their upper and lower ends. Each of the members 30carries a slot 3| similar to the slot I9 in the lifting foot I I andextending from the forward edge of the member 30 to a point spaced fromthe rearward edge of the member. An additional pair of cross-members orwebs 32 connect the side members 29 and are spaced substantiallyequidistant from each other and the cross-members 30.

A short bolt 33 (Figure 3), carrying a nut 34, is utilized to connectthe puller bar 28 to the lower end of the rack I2 or the rack 24. Forpurposes of illustration, the rack I2 will be used. The head 35 of thebolt 33 engages in the recess I8, while the shank of the bolt extendsthrough the slots I 9 and 3I The nut 34 engages beneath the cross-member30, thus securing the rack and the puller bar together. In thisposition, the lower end of the bar extends some distance below the jackI0, and may be utilized to extract bolts which would not be accessibleto the lifting foot I! due to the close proximity of timbers and membersadjacent the bolt. When used in this capacity, the lower cross-member 30and the slot 3I assume the function of the lifting foot I1, the member30 being engaged beneath the head of the bolt to be extracted while theslot 3| receives the shank of the bolt.

An additional use of the bar 28 resides in its use with an ordinary jack36, as is shown in Figure 2, having a rack 37 with a solid lifting foot38. The jack 36 is similar to the jack I in all other respects. Thesolid liftin foot 38 is inserted between the side members 29 of the bar28 and engaged beneath one of the cross-members 32 or the uppercross-member 3B. Subse quent upward movement of the rack 31 and the foot38 will obviously cause the bar 28 to be forced upwardly, therebyextracting the bolt or spike engaged thereby. Manifestly, any desirablenumber of cross-members 32 may be formed in the bar 28 so that a varietyof working lengths are available to engage bolts lying at variousdistances below the jack 36.

With the different racks and the auxiliary extension or puller barhereinbefore described, bolts and spikes may be extracted from manypoints that would render an ordinary bolt jack useless. Bolts may beextracted from points inaccessible to the ordinary jack.

Various changes, alterations and modifications may be made in the size,shape and arrangement of the herein described elements within the scopeof the appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a bolt extracting jack having a rack, a liftingfoot formed on said rack and extending laterally therefrom, said foothaving a fiat horizontal upper surface whereby the upper part of thefoot may be used as a lifting surface, of an extension member adapted tobe engaged by the lifting foot and to engage the bolt to be extracted,said extension member being formed of lateral members joined bycrossmembers, said cross-members being adapted to be engaged by thelifting foot.

2. The combination with a bolt extracting jack having a rack, a liftingfoot formed on said rack and extending laterally therefrom, said foothaving a fiat horizontal upper surface whereby the upper part of thefoot may be used as a lifting surface, of an extension member adapted tobe engaged at points spaced along its length by the lifting foot, saidmember having means for engagingth'e bolt to be extracted and fortransmitting an upward pull from the lifting foot to said bolt therebyextracting the latter and being formed of lateral members joined bycross-members.

3. The combination with a bolt extracting jack having a rack, and alifting foot lformed on said rack, of an extension member adapted to beengaged by the lifting foot and to engage the bolt to be extracted, saidextension member being formed of lateral members joined bycross-members, said cross-members being adapted to be engaged by thelifting foot.

4. The combination with a bolt extracting jack having a rack and alifting foot formed on said rack, of an extension member adapted to beengaged at points spaced along its length by the lifting foot, saidmember having means for engaging the bolt to be extracted and fortransmitting an upward pull from the lifting foot to said bolt therebyextracting the latter, said extension member being formed of lateralmembers joined by cross-members.

5. The combination with a bolt extracting jack having a rack, a liftingfoot formed on said rack and extending laterally therefrom, said foothaving a flat horizontal upper surface whereby the upper part of thefoot may be used as a lifting surface, of an extension member formed oflateral members joined by cross-members, said cross-members beingadapted to be engaged by the lifting foot so that the extension membermay be engaged at various points along its length, said member having arecess formed in its lower end for engaging the head of a bolt to beextracted, and having a slot extending a portion of the way across itslower end for receiving the shank of a bolt.

6. The combination with a bolt extracting jack having a rack, a liftingfoot formed on said rack and extending laterally therefrom, said foothaving a flat horizontal upper surface whereby the upper part of thefoot may be used as a lifting surface, said foot having a recessextending horizontally thereinto below the upper surface thereof forreceiving the head of the bolt being extracted, and having a slotextending downwardly therein from the recess for receiving the shank ofthe bolt, of an extension member adapted to be engaged by the liftingfoot and to engage the bolt to be extracted, said extension member beingformed of lateral members joined by crossmembers, said cross-membersbeing adapted to be engaged by the lifting foot, and said extensionmember having means at its upper end for engaging a connector boltengaged by the lifting foot, whereby the extension member may be securedto the lifting foot in order to extract bolts.

7. The combination with a bolt extracting jack having a rack, a liftingfoot formed on said rack, and bolt engaging means formed on said foot,of an extension member adapted to be engaged by the lifting foot and toengage the bolt to be extracted, said extension member being formed 10

